Learning media Design

Objectives

For our Learning Media Design final project at Carnegie Mellon, my team partnered with the Research Science course at Winchester Thurston, an independent school in Pittsburgh, guided by Professor Marti Louw.

Our mission was to design an innovative learning media solution that addresses key challenges in documentation, assessment, and portfolio practices for project-based learning (PBL). Through three phases of design and exploratory analysis, we created Zipper—a transformative tool that empowers instructors to assess 21st-century competencies effectively within traditional grading frameworks, bridging the gap between modern learning goals and conventional evaluation methods.

Phase 1: Expert Interviews

understanding expert practices

Our expert interviews (n=3) set out to:

1. Explore how project types influence documentation practices.

2. Identify best and worst practices in documentation.

3. Assess the impact of tools and environments on the documentation process.

Findings

The interviews provided unexpected but valuable insights. Rather than uncovering a linear sequence of activities, we learned about the individual decisions and motivations shaping each participant's documentation approach. This led us to develop an identity model for synthesizing our findings, which highlighted key contrasts and similarities in documentation conventions and styles.

A significant insight emerged: while structured documentation was critical to expert workflows, participants strongly preferred methods that aligned with their personal habits and patterns, rejecting imposed or overly rigid approaches. This realization informed our broader focus on balancing structure and openness in designing solutions, laying the groundwork for Zipper’s development.

This robust, qualitative approach ensured our research was grounded in real-world practices, emphasizing the nuanced needs of diverse users. It underscored the importance of creating tools that adapt to individual workflows while maintaining the consistency needed for educational impact.

We learned that experts build their portfolio and document their process in a highly structured way which becomes critical of their working process. However, they all dislike when documentation is imposed or forced upon them as it creates non-organic documentation. They prefer more open work styles that fit their own habits and patterns. This lead us to start considering the value of openness and structure at large, and would eventually lead us away from forcing students to document their work.

Phase 2: Stakeholder Interviews

Stakeholder 1: Adam Nye, Assistant Head for Educational Strategy at Winchester Thurston

In our interview with Mr. Nye, we discussed the implementation challenges of PBL in formal education. In PBL, formative and summative assessments, classroom activities, and curriculum are interdependent components of the flexible knowledge development system (Barron & Hammond, 2008). These assessments are often not standardized across projects within the class. Additionally, students end up in different places of the design process than others, resulting in grading inconsistencies. Another challenge in project-based learning that was highlighted was how to demonstrate student performance to outsiders (i.e. to employers through portfolios, or higher education admissions through a transcript).

STAKEHOLDER 2: GRAIG MARX, Instructor of research science at winchester thurston

We learned a lot about the instructor’s central role in Research Science. In order to foster a more open PBL environment, the instructor favors less structure (i.e. seldom use of rubrics and assessments). He has difficulty determining which projects are better than others, problems anticipating which student groups will get farther in the design process, and no systematic process for evaluating student learning.

synthesis

Our synthesis focused on identifying key challenges to target in our design, which we organized into a diagnostic map. This map categorized problems, their causes, consequences, and potential solutions across themes such as grading, motivation, peer evaluation, space, and mentorship.

A central insight was the limited structure of the course, with Mr. Marx acting as the primary point of interaction and assessment. Despite assessing students daily, his evaluations relied on informal observations and personal intuition, lacking a systematic approach to tracking progress over time. This highlighted the need for a tool that supports consistent, evidence-based assessments while addressing broader course structure challenges.

observation

Our observation informed us on how students interact with each other, and with Mr. Marx. Throughout the hour session, Mr. Marx went from one group to the next, got a brief catch-up on their design proposal (the current project phase), and then provided group specific help and guidance. This was repeated until all groups had been reached, which occurred at the end of the hour.

Several observations provided useful insights. One group was of particular interest, as they were noticeably working inefficiently. This group seemed to have a repeated history of wheel-spinning, as they were the only group that Mr. Marx had sent research articles to directly. Later in the class, Mr. Marx publicly announced the due date of the design proposal, which prompted the group to gain motivation, repeatedly saying that they had to work as they had a deadline next week. This group exemplified many of the problems we found during diagnostic mapping. Students were unaware of deadlines, some groups work better than others, some students have differing motivation styles than others, and some group projects get off to a faster start without scaffolding.

The insights gained from our observations didn’t lend themselves to their own synthesis model, but added value to our diagnostic mapping. Our insights helped identify pain points to guide our design solution.

identified problems in assessments

Our diagnostic mapping and affinity diagraming helped illustrate problems in assessments.

• Grading inconsistencies and subjectivity

• Informal assessments

• Evidence of performance not collected

• Unequal feedback among groups

Phase 3: Prototyping

In this phase, we tackled challenges identified during user research by developing low-fidelity UI mockups and storyboards for a hybrid system integrating both digital and physical components, as requested by the instructor. These prototypes were designed to create a seamless feedback and assessment experience, making the process more transparent for students while supporting the instructor’s documentation needs.

Our prototyping process emphasized real-world usability, closely mirroring how the instructor would interact with the system. By gathering detailed input on functionality—such as student access, reporting frequency, and maintaining the student-driven course structure—we refined the design to meet practical classroom requirements.

Metrics were established to evaluate whether the system effectively promoted reflection without overburdening students, with initial questions resolved through prototype testing. While constrained by time for long-term evaluation, this phase demonstrated our ability to rapidly prototype solutions and adapt designs based on user feedback, paving the way for future iterations with long-term educational impact.

Final Product: Zipper

Zipper is an innovative tool designed to enhance project-based learning (PBL) by addressing key challenges in assessment, documentation, and student engagement. It empowers instructors to assess 21st-century competencies within traditional grading systems through a seamless blend of structure and flexibility.

Educational Impact

• For Students: Zipper fosters deeper engagement by promoting transparency in assessments, enabling students to track their progress meaningfully. Its focus on reflective learning supports incremental growth, motivating students to achieve educational goals while maintaining ownership of their learning journey.

• For Instructors: Zipper streamlines feedback and assessment processes, allowing instructors to document performance consistently and effectively without imposing rigid frameworks, ensuring that PBL remains student-driven.

• For Learning Goals: By bridging the gap between modern competencies and traditional evaluation, Zipper ensures students and instructors alike are equipped to navigate the demands of a dynamic educational landscape.

This tool not only enhances PBL but also aligns with broader educational objectives, creating a more engaging, equitable, and impactful learning experience.

Future Work and Vision

The next steps for Zipper involve extended user testing to explore its integration into additional project-based learning (PBL) courses. The vision is to strike a balance between structure and openness, improving assessment practices and fostering meaningful documentation.

Zipper represents a transformative advancement in project-based learning by addressing critical challenges in assessment and engagement. It empowers instructors to evaluate 21st-century skills with consistency while preserving the creative, open-ended nature of PBL.

For students, Zipper enhances transparency and promotes reflective learning, allowing them to take greater ownership of their educational journey. By bridging the gap between traditional evaluation systems and modern learning goals, Zipper redefines how educators and learners interact, fostering a more dynamic, equitable, and impactful educational experience.

Zipper has a profound impact on students' ability to achieve their learning goals by enhancing engagement, transparency, and personalized growth within project-based learning (PBL) environments. It bridges traditional assessment systems with modern educational needs, empowering both students and instructors to thrive in dynamic, competency-driven learning settings.

Key Impact on Students

1. Promotes Goal-Oriented Learning:
   Zipper provides students with clear, evidence-based feedback, helping them understand their progress and areas for improvement. This transparency motivates students to set and achieve meaningful learning goals.

2. Supports Reflective Growth:
   By fostering self-reflection, Zipper encourages students to actively engage with their work, understand their learning journey, and take ownership of their development.

3. Enhances Engagement and Motivation:
   With its balance of structure and openness, Zipper supports creativity and exploration while ensuring that students remain focused on their objectives. This approach sustains long-term motivation and commitment to learning.

4. Equips Students with 21st-Century Skills:
   Zipper aligns with modern competencies, such as critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability, ensuring students are prepared for real-world challenges.

Significance

Zipper transforms the way students experience learning by making the process more interactive, reflective, and personalized. It not only helps students achieve their academic goals but also builds lifelong learning habits, preparing them to succeed in both education and beyond.